Witches in Training (#2 in the Witches Trilogy) [rewrites ongoing]

Chapter Sixteen: An Animated Reunion

VINNI

"I haven't been here.... in so.... long." Wein mutters, staring at Rachelle's house.

The house itself is fairly large, with three levels and a garden below. It reminds me a bit of mine, before Raelynn wrecked it. But unlike my old home, Rachelle's house has a distinct cold feeling to it. The shrubs and bushes are devoid of colour-just dark green masses lining the boundary. The grass is clipped so short it's hardly there, and the uniformity of the length is astonishing. The house has a generally dark palette, the patio favouring dark oak and tinted lamps.

"So who's knocking?" I ask.

"Wein." Mel and Van say immediately.

"Hey! I-" Wein's eyes widen as the words stop flowing and she points speechlessly at the house. Coming round the corner of it is a hose, spraying a fine sheet of water, twisting gently and covering every inch. Except... there's no one holding the hose. It manoeuvres itself through the air, guided by invisible hands. I know there's no one there, which leads to the question-exactly what kind of magical creature is Rachelle?

"Ring the doorbell," I suggest. The moving hose, coupled with the cold house, has given me a distinct foreboding feeling.

Wein is evidently unsettled as she grits her teeth, takes a deep breath and marches up to the patio. She makes to ring the bell, but before she even touches it, the door flies open, inwards, pointing us into a dark, empty hallway. "Okay... now I'm spooked." Mel whispers.

Wein frowns. It probably wasn't like this the last time she came for a sleepover.

"Do we go in?" Van asks me cautiously.

"Let's go." I say firmly, without hesitation. I light up my palm and step in.

Wein hesitates. "Vinni, I don't like this. I don't feel anything."

"Um-"

"No, really. I can't sense any animals at all. No flashes of life. It's like everything here... is dead."

A cold fist closes around my heart. I swallow, but go on, annoyed with my hesitation. "We can handle it. Come on." I continue down the hallway with Van and Mel and lastly Wein behind me, the light from my hand driving the shadows away. The house is clean but bare, devoid of pictures or ornaments or anything else to say that someone lives here. The air is sharp and cold.

"Rachelle?" I try. "Um... hello?"

We reach the foot of a staircase. "Rachelle?" I call up it. There's silence, and then suddenly-

"Vinni."

Van screams. I swing around, and my spotlight falls on Rachelle. I gape instinctively. Rachelle has changed immensely since I last saw her three years ago. Gone is the short bob of hair and the goofy smile and the cheerful eyes. The girl that stands before us has a sharp, pale, angled face and wideset eyes with pinpoint black pupils. Her cheekbones are a little too prominent, and although she's only averagely tall, she's terribly thin. Her hair is jet-black and limp, hanging over her shoulders. Van looks like she's seen a ghost, and I don't blame her.

"Don't bother with the lights," Rachelle says quietly. Her voice is still hers. As she speaks overhead lights flicker on, illuminating the hallway.

"Rachelle, what happened to you?" Wein asks bluntly.

"I got stronger." She replies. Stronger. She must be twice as thin and her face is a hundred times more gaunt. But I know she doesn't mean physically. She means magically. What kind of magic leaves you transformed like this? There's only one answer: dark magic.